Thursday, February 24, 2022

Gratitude #61

It's time for me to reflect over the past month about things for which I am grateful. I will be linking up at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color, where you can find others who post their 'likes'.

1a. I thought would start with some of the recent additions to my sewing room. When Dayna was finally, after more than two years, able to come and visit us, she brought a few items with her that had been sent to me care of her. One was my thank you from Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict for participating again in Hands2Help.


Do I like both of these packs! I can see two charm pouches being made with these cute mini charms! It's a pleasure to participate in Sarah's comfort quilt drive, and I will be again this year, with Mari of The Academic Quilter as the host. I will be sharing a quick and easy make for a comfort quilt, as well as donating at least three.

1b. Bernie of Needle & Foot closed out her online quilt shop, and I decided to help her clear off some of her shelves of fabric. One of my favourite fabric companies has long been Art Gallery Fabrics, so I bought four half yard cuts and a remnant. Pretty much anything Katarina Rocella designs, I love.
Do I have a plan for them? Not exactly, but they are getting petted and drooled over as they sit on my counter before I add them to my stash. When fabrics make me smile and get all warm /n fuzzy inside, it's money well-spent imho.

1c. As you well know, I love Benartex Fabrics, and I often sew for and with them. Well, a Christmas present, from them for me 😁 went to Dayna's house in November, and I finally got my hands on it.



There are two stacks of one-yard cuts there! I was speechless when she set them all out, more and more and more! These are two lines: "Evelyn's Etched Tulips" by Jackie Robinson, and Contempo’s "Rainbow Garden" by Valentina Harper. That last line is one I had in mind for a new soon-to-be-released pattern, so getting it meant that Stephanie, my 'boss' knows me well!

2. I like this fat quarter bundle I bought at Mad About Patchwork. I won a $50 gift card some time ago when MAP was under the previous owner, in a Finish Along I believe, and Ali honoured it. I treated myself to Bookish by Sharon Holland of AGF, a line I've admired since its release.


Do I have a plan? Yes! Here is a like inside a like: I have long loved Then Came June's Meadowland quilt, and when she had a sale on a few days ago to celebrate her birthday, I bought it, thinking this will be the perfect pattern for Bookish.

3. I love the Postcard from Sweden quilt, and you may know I'm currently hosting a QAL for it, making my second one. I have nearly finished the top, ahead of schedule. In a leader/ender project, I made another makeup pouch. It's currently listed in my Etsy shop, SandraJaneQuilts.


4. I am liking something in advance! I like that I am 'going' to "A Celebration of Nature Conservationism and Canadian Birds, honouring Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson" on March 2. It's a celebration on Zoom, and it's through Nature Canada, an organization I support. 

5. I love nature, and I like making a point of noticing her beauty right in front of me. This was above me: the ice that decorated our tree branches last week when the rain turned to freezing rain and then snow.
The photo doesn't do it justice, but with the rising sun on the branches it looked like they were encased in glass.
And this beneath me, pointed out by my husband.
Daffodils! Yes there is some snow left, though not much.


6. I liked the book I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon which I recently read. It's another historical fiction, and very good, albeit a bit confusing since it is told in reverse chronological order.

7. I LOVE our new car! We have wanted a fully electric vehicle since Tesla first came on the scene. Tesla models didn't quite work for us with two dogs, and they are rather expensive. Well, my research-guru-gearhead husband did a TON of research and determined the best buy out there is the Hyundai Ioniq 5. We ordered it in June 2021, and we finally got to pick it up, the first one in our entire Essex County, on February 5.


8. I like these two quotes which I put on my Instagram stories, and which is how I am living my life and operating my blog, Instagram, and Etsy shop:



9. And that brings me to: I like that Ottawa is now cleared of the #griftersconvoy, the #flutruxconvoy, the #kukluxkonvoy or any other number of apt hashtags. It was never about mandates; it was, from the start, clearly stated by the far right wing, Western separatist, white supremacist, leaders in their Memorandum that they wanted to overthrow the elected government. When you prevent something as simple as snowplows from plowing city streets, and more sinisterly, people from walking down their own streets to get to work, or to go for groceries or to go to a doctor's appointment, when you harass people for wearing a mask, for being brown, for being a woman, for displaying a Pride flag (defecated on that homeowner's porch; smashed the window of a business), when you barge into a homeless centre and harass the workers, and won't leave until they feed you food meant for homeless people, when you are so rude and lawless that you won't follow the PROVINCIAL mandate of wearing a mask in public spaces, which forces the closure of the most lucrative per square foot mall in Canada, when you have such disregard for the law that small businesses close for fear of you, and for loss of business due to the lawlessness, YOU ARE NOT PEACEFUL PROTESTERS. 
Senator Paula Simons made, in my friend Linda's words, a brilliant speech about the convoy. Click the photo or the link to listen to it. 

There is a dark force behind using (and raising $8+ MILLION for) a few grumpy truckers and a bunch of angry, delusional people in order to overthrow a democratically elected government. Note that 90% of truckers are fully vaccinated, and have no issue with the cross-border mandate by both the Canadian and US governments, and note that these people are whining about having to wear masks to keep themselves and other humans safe, and they subscribe to conspiracy theories that leave my jaw dropped open.

And if you haven't listened to Hugo yet, please take two minutes; it's just one example of the direct effect of the (GAG) 'peaceful protest' of nearly four weeks:

10. Lastly, I think what our Prime Minister said the other day about sums up my and the overwhelming majority of Canadians' sentiments.





13 comments:

  1. Love the mail, pretty fabrics! What a mess Canada has been in with the so called trucker convoy.

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  2. WOW! Your long overdue fabrics are stunning. I have one of them in my stash from Bernie's -that white with red motif and I love that navy fabric below it...reminds me of a fabric I had long ago and loved. Oh, I am so glad the selge is over, but what a sad state this world is in. I was hoping covid would have calmed this, made us feel all in it together, but it seems to have made this right extremism so much worse. I am so sad and worried about the world...but grateful for all who are standing up to it. We need to do more.

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  3. Love your new fabrics & also the pretty nature scenes, though I did think they might be crocus poking through. I "HATE" protests of any sort & think we should all get on with our lives, be kind to others & smile. Too much mayhem in the world & not enough sleep lately has made me tetchy, but I try not to let it make me forget my manners. Take care & hugs.

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  4. Wow lots of pretty fabrics. I am so out of the loop when it comes to new, other than Russia invading Ukraine now. I recently read a book called Braiding Sweetgrass which talked about having a culture of gratefulness to nature and appreciating everything about it.

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  5. You have some pretty and fun fabric to play with. I hope that it brings some peace and comfort to you as you create beautiful things. The news of our world lately is discouraging, to say the least.

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  6. Oh, I love Bookish! So many great fabrics. Of course I haven't bought any yet, but I will at some point. I love your little pouch, too. And the daffodil shoots! Happy dance!

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  7. Beautiful fabrics. Love that little pouch, too. Such unrest everywhere. I'm sorry to see that our insanity in the US is bleeding over into Canada.

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  8. Hi Sandra! Happy mail, via Dayna is beyond the best. The delivery person is a treat, not to mention the items she bears. SWEET! AGF fabrics - how did I miss them all these years?? Anyway, I join in the love of AGF with many thanks to Bernie. I hope her big move is going well. The bulbs!! OMG. I would run right out and check on mine . . . except we just received six inches of fresh snow last night. That is blanketing the bulbs that are peeking out, I am certain, and giving them fresh water to enjoy as it slowly melts. I, too, have wanted a Telsa - drove by a charging station and a showcase every day for 10 years now. The price, the lack of charging stations on a 100-mile-per-day commute, the frigid weather all added up to deterrents. Congrats to you!! Someone has to be a first - I'm proud to say I know one in Essex County!! I will be following along shortly. The dependency on oil from foreign countries is not going to impact you - the cleaner air for our environment and Earth - so many good things to take from that short paragraph. {{Hugs}} And not to get too political, you know I support everything you wrote and shared. Passionately. Why the "waa-waa" voice that yells the loudest always has to win is beyond me. But with words like Trudeau, with leaders like him, there is hope that evil will not triumph all. Will not and can not. Enough. {{Hugs}} a bunch. Stay safe and take care. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  9. Love all the beautiful fabric and that pouch made with leftover "Postcard" triangles (?). It should sell fast. It must have been like heaven to have your daughter there for a few days. I am so discouraged by the lack of civility in our society these days. I often think that social media has made it worse. Yes, we had radio, TV and newspapers to update us but the "in your face every darn minute" publicity has made this so much worse. I have lost a lot of faith in government and the leaders in the US. Cynicism is easy and ready to take over so I have turned to quilting as a way of trying to ease the negativity. After all who can be negative around such wonderfully pretty fabric. And those quilts are donated to good causes!! Thanks for the thoughtful words.

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  10. The Postcards from Sweden pouch is adorable. I love the feel of Art Gallery fabrics. Not too many shops around me carry it, and I don't order a lot on line. I didn't ask you about the 'trucker' protest, because I already knew how you would feel about it. I worry so much about our children's and my grandchildren's futures. The invasion of the Ukraine is just one more nail in the coffin.
    Pat

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  11. Thanks for sharing the Senator's comments, the article, Hugo's heartfelt Twitter post, and the PMs message. All were helpful, informative and moving. Let's hope we can all do better...on both sides of our common border.

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  12. Hi Sandra - I love the post! The fabrics are wonderful, glad you and Dayna had a few days - these visits are the worst part of this pandemic, too few and too long in between. I drive a Hyundai, and will not get another car until it is electric - I like the look of the IONIQ, so keep me updated, I hope it lives up to your research. As for daffodils, we usually see them here this time of year, but Niagara seems to had more snow every few days, and for the south shore of Lake Ontario, it is highly unusual - it's snowing again now. And #9 and #10 - it's nice to see the actual facts are out there for all to see, I just hope it is remembered in the next election. Take care!

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  13. Loved your post! From the news of Dayna’s visit to the yummy fabrics (how did I miss Bookish?) to the words and reports regarding the #$&convoy#$&! And now today, another #$&&$#of big rigs and flag bearing followers are headed to DC and came through my community! I am so angry I can hardly express it! Here, I feel so alone in my opinions! Now at least, I know there are some sane people out there. Thank you!

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